In what’s becoming a bit of a tradition, J. Moore and I chopped it up with Kendrick Lamar at our Summer Jam last week (if you missed our last K. Dot Summer Jam interview, peep it here). In front of the natural backdrop of The Gorge, Kendrick talked about his interests outside of music, the possibility of scoring films in the future, what international tour life is like, being an accessible as a celebrity, and more, before taking the stage and performing in front of 15k fans.

Shout to Kendrick, Interscope, TDE, and KUBE for coordinating and the First Ladies for filming/editing!

Following up on his interview with J. Moore and I from our Summer Jam a few months ago, Kendrick stopped by the Sound Session studios this past week while out in Seattle for a show.

We talked all about his new album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, which drops tomorrow. He spoke on his approach to the record considering it’s not his first project but his first on a major label, how he wanted it to act as an introduction to the rest of his music, whether or not the label influenced him creatively, his favorite song on the album, and more. We also touched on his early days as a rapper, getting in front of a mic for the first time, how his Top Dawg Entertainment crew compares to the other cliques in the game, and some other random topics.

Be sure to cop the album tomorrow and support one of the best artists we have in music right now!

There’s a whole lot of talk about crews these days…from G.O.O.D. to MMG to YMCMB to Shady, etc….but honestly, what the Black Hippy crew is doing might be the most impressive of them all. Quality, genuine, and fresh music, largely built all off their own grind. Doesn’t get much doper than that.

This is undoubtedly one of the hardest records out right now, which as a fairly mellow, pseudo slow jam, is quite an accomplishment. Big shout to Ab and Schoolboy Q, who came by the Sound Session studio this past weekend. Interview coming soon.

Just in time for his weekend here in Seattle (shows tonight at Seattle U and tomorrow at Neumos), Ab-Soul drops his newest video, this time for “Terrorist Threats” with Danny Brown and the lovely miss Jhene Aiko. I’ve been hoping to play this on Sound Session for a while, but it’s a bit too dirty to clean up. Works pretty nicely for the web though! Dope record.